Sept. 16, 2026 10:45a
(WGTD)---The City of Racine has become the latest community to decide to move away from the Flock automated license plate reader system.
Mayor Cory Mason broke a tie vote Tuesday night in favor of covering up the cameras within 30 days, even though the city has paid for the service through the end of the year. He previously indicated that he does not plan to put funding for Flock cameras in his 2027 budget proposal.
He and Flock opponents voiced concerns over privacy, company policies and transparency issues---all things that have been raised in other communities. Several brief mentions were made of Sheboygan's experience with Flock. They canceled the contract after learning that Flock had collected five years' worth of traffic data from Sheboygan's own cameras--then tried to sell it to the city's engineering department. Sheboygan officials say they had no idea that that kind of data was being collected.
The thirty-day delay in covering up Racine's cameras is designed to give the police department time to wrap up some ongoing investigations.
The police department is expected to now explore alternatives to Flock.
The City of Kenosha announced last month that it’s planning on pursuing a contract with Axon, a Flock competitor.
Racine Alder Dave Mack was among those council members who said the benefits of an automated license plate reader system outweigh the negatives.
The Racine council floor debate Tuesday night lasted nearly two hours.
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